By Chimezie Godfrey
CLEEN Foundation has kicked against the killing of citizens by security agents, for defying lockdown order issued by the Federal and some state governments, to help in the fight against coronavirus, COVID-19.
In a statement on Monday, the Executive Director, CLEEN Foundation, Benson Olugbuo, also expressed sadness over the lack of synergy between the federal and state governments to coordinate COVID-19 responses across the nation.
Olugbuo noted that since the first index case of the COVID-19 was detected in Nigeria on February 24th 2020, that CLEEN Foundation has been observing and documenting public responses to the pandemic, particularly against security agencies in enforcing emergency orders and government’s response to curb the spread of the virus.
According to him, the foundation established a COVID-19 Nigeria Security Support Group (CNSSG), with state coordinators and volunteers in all states and the FCT, observing the activities of security agents deployed to monitor the restriction of movement within their localities through Tella, an online data capturing application.
He mentioned that CLEEN generated 269 observation reports collated across the six geo-political zones, which includes 154 reports on citizens compliance to government directives, and 82 reports on conducts of security personnel enforcing government directives.
The foundation noted that on human rights incident reports, there were extra-judicial killings and brutality of citizens by security personnel.
“There are 23 documented incidents of extra-judicial killing across the country. Out of this number, 12 deaths were recorded in Kaduna State.
“Abia State recorded 5 deaths, Anambra State 2 deaths, while Delta, Niger, Ebonyi and Katsina states recorded 1 death each. Notably, 18 of the incidents have been confirmed by the National Human Rights Commission with the exception of those that occurred within the last few days.
“In Akwa Ibom state, a health professional and staff of the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital on essential duty was brutally assaulted by a police officer.
“In Lagos state, our observers reported instances where officers of the Nigerian Army subjected some persons to untoward physical exercise for flouting the stay-at-home order.
“Certain areas in the Federal Capital Territory witnessed intimidation by security personnel as the officials resorted to the use of force to send people back to their houses along the Airport road.
“In Ekiti state, our observers reported acts of brutality by NSCDC officials and officials of the state taskforces involved in rights violations.
“In Ebonyi State, the Governor allegedly directed security agents to shoot at sight anyone that tries to run away from the State isolation center. CLEEN Foundation condemns this statement.”
He further pointed that the security operatives were said to also be involved in extortion of citizens.
“No coordinated strategy between the Federal and State Governments “There is no coordinated and centralized synergy between the Federal and State governments in tackling the pandemic.
“The Federal Government enforced a total lockdown in Lagos and Ogun states and the Federal Capital Territory which are highly prone to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We observed that Osun State with a high number of confirmed cases was not listed by the Federal Government.
“However, the state government has taken proactive measures by declaring a total lockdown.
“In Ogun state, we have observed that the state government delayed the lock down for five days contrarily to the Presidential Order.
“In Edo state, despite increasing incidents of confirmed COVID-19 cases, the state government has not declared a total lockdown. In Cross River State, the state government directed all civil servants to resume work on the 14th of April and enforced a “No Mask No Movement Policy” in the state.
“Most states in the Northern parts of the country are not enforcing any restriction of movement due to the impact it will have on agriculture and economy,” he said.
Olugbui disclosed that there was increased insecurity of citizens due to the lock down which resulted in increase in incidents of cultism, and armed robbery in places like Lagos, and Ogun state, respectively.
He pointed out that hoodlums took advantage of the restriction of movement to rob innocent citizens in some neighbourhoods such as Abule Egba, Agege, Iju, Iyana Ipaja during the Easter holidays.
According to him, groups of youths were observed blocking the roads and extorting money from commuters, while some community members have mobilized vigilante groups to keep their communities safe.
He added that this has posed another security threat in relation to jungle justice and mob action which is frequent in Nigeria.
In the light of the foregoing, the foundation among other recommendations, called for a stop to killing of citizens by security personnel, and the need for synergy among various levels of government in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There is the need for improved synergy between the Federal and the State Governments on the coordination of COVID-19 responses across the nation. The Nigerian Governors’ Forum should support and complement the efforts of the Presidential Task Force across the states.
“Security agents must embrace rights based approach to enforce the restriction of movement directives. Furthermore, officers of security agencies indicted for human rights abuses should face the full weight of the law.
“Government should provide personal protective equipment and codes of conduct for all security agents deployed to enforce the restriction of movement. Their welfare should also be made a priority.
“We advocate for complete transparency in the distribution of palliatives to vulnerable Nigerians and ensure they reach the poor and vulnerable to avoid the potential security implication of perceived imbalance.
“We appeal to the general public to embrace the public health advisory of Nigerian Centre for Disease Control and comply with directives of the Federal and State Governments on the COVID-19 pandemic,” Olugbuo said.
